Time Doesn't Stop for Princesses
by I hart Booth
Summary: Everybody makes mistakes and Brennan must deal with the consequences of hers four years after the fact. BB in a nontraditional way, angsty with bittersweet ending.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a shortie, probably only four or five chaps and it will be bittersweet so I hope you can take it. It won't be flowers and rainbows in the end, you've been warned, but I hope you'll give it a shot anyway. **

_Everday holds a suprise. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always unexpected._

Brennan took a deep breath and rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans, a nervous gesture she'd been performing off and on for the past half hour of standing outside this door.

This stupid faux wood door she'd stood outside of so many times before and knocked without even the slightest hesitation.

But things were different back then. Back before he'd kissed her, before they shared a bed for nearly six months…before he asked her to spend the rest of his life with him. And before she ran away.

Four years, three months and twelve days. That's how long she'd been gone. How long she'd stayed as far away from him as possible at her new job in California. That's how long it had been since she'd even spoken to the man she'd unwillingly given her heart to all those years ago.

Closing her eyes, ordered her heart to beat at a normal speed and haphazardly brushed auburn hair out of her face. She couldn't believe how long it was taking to work up the courage to move her wrist in a simple knocking motion.

He'd be happy to see her. She was his friend after all.

_'Was' being the operative word_. That forever present little voice whispered.

She rolled her eyes at herself and threw back her shoulders. She was going to knock on this door, if it was the last thing she did.

She lifted her fist and exhaled slowly.

_This is it._

In an instant her hand was back at her side, resuming it's nervous fidgeting.

She frowned. Pots and pans were clanging on the other side of the door, sounds of movement and child's laughter.

_He must have Parker._

Immediately a wave of guilt hit her. Not only had she been away for over four years, was showing up uninvited and unannounced, but now she was interrupting his precious time with his son.

_Some friend I am._

Her thoughts were interrupted when the tell-tale click of a door being unlocked echoed in the hallway and she snapped to attention, absently tugging at her unwrinkled clothes, smoothing the lipstick she didn't have on.

She held her breath as the door opened and was met with the gaze of the one man who always saw right to the center of her soul.

"Booth." She breathed, just the sight of him knocking the breath right out of her.

Seeley Booth stood frozen at his front door, he couldn't even move. He'd never expected to see her again.

"Temperance." Was all he could think to say.

The two stood staring at each other, memories of past laughter and betrayals playing in both their minds as sure as they froze them in place.

Booth was the first to come out of the stunned reverie and speak, reflexively stepping to the side and wedging himself between the door frame and the door. Had Brennan known anything about psychology she would have understood his unconscious gesture as a sign that the apartment she used to be as comfortable in as her own, was now off limits.

"What are you doing here?"

Brennan opened her mouth to speak, and closed it again. What was she doing there? Had she really thought she could just walk back into his life and into his arms now that so much time had passed? Was she really so presumptuous to think she could pretend nothing had happened, that she hadn't abandoned him the way everyone had always abandoned her?...No, she wasn't. But she **had** hoped, and she hated that because…he was the one who taught her how. Only now she could see all her hopes had been wrong.

It wasn't fair.

"I um…"

Booth couldn't believe she was there, standing at his front door looking as beautiful and pure as ever. Even as he was awed by this he could feel the anger he'd pushed aside so long ago boiling up again. She had no right to be there. He'd given her a chance, hell he'd given her everything, including his heart. And she'd pushed him away, rebuilt her walls stronger and thicker than before. She'd told him he wasn't what she wanted and she left, what right did she have to show up now that he'd finally managed to move past that and get on with his life?

It wasn't fair.

"Temperance?" He questioned quietly. She still didn't respond but he could see the blush creeping up her neck and to her ears and cheeks.

Without his knowledge or consent, a look of concern fell across his face and his muscles relaxed.

"Is everything okay?"

She slowly shook her head and he pursed his lips, with a glance back inside his apartment, he stepped outside and gently shut the door.

"What is it?" He asked, folding his arms to keep from reaching out to her.

She could sense the concern in his voice and feel the intensity in his gaze. He'd asked if everything was okay and the look in his eyes when he first saw her flashed in her mind. His eyes, the same ones that used to be so full of love and warmth were now neutral, if not tinged with hostility and she couldn't help but shake her head.

No, everything was not alright, not even close.

Brennan took a deep breath and willed her eyes not to be bloodshot when she looked up at him, she didn't have any right to cry.

"I just…I messed everything up, didn't I Seeley?" She caught her breath. What was she saying? That was **not** what she'd intended to say. Something along the lines of 'Hi, I'm back' would have done nicely. Instead she came up with **that**?

Booth's mouth dropped and he paused for a moment, at a loss. She'd always been blunt, but this was ridiculous. Four years gone by without a word and she couldn't even ease them into their reunion with a 'hi'?

"I…Temperance…"

She groaned unexpectedly and shook her head. "Don't call me that. You only call me that when you're upset about something."

This time his face darkened. "Well, I am upset. I haven't seen or heard from you in over four years and you show up on my doorstep at nine at night and want to just…what? Pick up where we left off?" He hadn't intended to shout, but somehow that's exactly what he was doing by the time he was done.

His outburst fueled her courage and she stepped toward him, oddly comforted to be fighting with him after all this time.

"Yes. It's not like you didn't know what you were getting into when we started out Booth. You know I always run. Why didn't you ever try and find me?"

Booth gritted his teeth and out of habit, stepped toward her challengingly. Their bodies were nearly touching, eyes locked, faces separated by a breath.

"And how was I supposed to do that Temperance? It's not like you left a forwarding address. Or a phone number for that matter."

"Don't give me that Booth, you're FBI! You could have found me if you wanted to."

"That's right, I could have."

"But you didn't."

"No I didn't."

"Well why the Hell not?!"

The words fell out of his mouth before he could catch them. "Because it hurt too much. Alright?! It hurt too much."

She blinked, finding no response to his confession, she just stood there.

They were both breathing heavily, eyes blazing in an old, familiar flame. Her mouth parted slightly with labored breath and in a moment of weakness he allowed his gaze to fall to her plump lips, practically begging for his attention.

And he almost…

In that exact moment Booth's apartment door flung open and a woman in her mid thirties, long blonde hair and blue slacks stared open-mouthed at them.

"Seeley?"

Startled, Booth jumped away from Brennan and smiled at the other woman.

"Hey."

"What are you doing?" She asked, gaping at him for a moment. When he didn't move she narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she studied the woman standing next to him.

Brennan pushed her hair back, it was matted from hours in the car and she suddenly wished she'd thought to change out of her sweats and brown jacket, in the presence of this other woman who looked so well thought out and put together and called Booth by his first name.

Before Booth had a chance to answer a little girl, not even waist height, appeared at the door, clear blue eyes peaking out from beneath white-blonde hair.

"Daddy, why was you yellin?"

Smiling brightly, he leaned down and scooped the girl off the floor. "Nothing Pumpkin. Grown up stuff."

"Daddy." Brennan whispered to herself, her heartbeat returning to normal as she studied the small girl in Booth's arms. Silently, she catalogued the similarities between the girl and Booth. The same eyes and smile, but everything else was that of the woman. She was a vision in pink bunny pajamas and the spitting image of her mother. She giggled when Booth placed a kiss on her cheek.

"You have a daughter?" Brennan asked, almost accusingly.

Booth looked over at her, his smile attempting to hide the shadows in his eyes.

"Things have changed, Bones."

With her astonished gaze still on him, he turned as the woman cleared her throat. Shifting the girl from one hip to the other, he put a polite smile on his face and coughed.

"Um, this is Grace, my daughter. Gracie, say hi."

Grace's head rested on Booth's shoulder, fatigue weighing heavily on her eyelids as she lifted her arm and gave a half-hearted wave to the disheveled woman in their doorway.

"She'll be three next month. And um, Jenna, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan my…former partner. Bones, this is Jenna…my wife."

Jenna extended her hand and gave a tight smile.

"Very nice to meet you, now I hope you'll excuse me, it's bed time." Then, without another word, or look at either of them, she carefully extracted the now sleeping Grace from Booth's arms and went inside.

Booth shoved his hands in his pockets and averted his gaze from Brennan.

"Your wife." She repeated softly.

Booth only nodded, the itching need to find out why she was back in DC and standing at his door was no longer prevalent, instead his only wish was not to feel like a stranger in his own skin.

"I have to um…" He began lamely, trailing off when he couldn't find a suitable end for his sentence.

Brennan nodded and swallowed hard.

"Yeah, me too. I'll just…"

"Yeah."

They shifted on their feet a few times before Brennan took a deep breath and looked up for the first time.

"I'll see you later."

Booth nodded and watched as she gave him a small smile and turned, practically running, down the hallway to the stairs.

He waited until the stomping of her shoes on the stairs had echoed away and the sound of her car engine had faded before turning and entering his apartment, trying to forget the look of disappointment and tears in her eyes.

**Well, I hope you angst addicts out there will continue with me. Like I said, this is bittersweet, it's about dealing with the effects of the choices we make even when things don't turn out right, and things can't always be perfect. So, tell me what you thought, there's a few more chaps.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_So here we are beginning the explanation of what happened. Thanks to all my reviewers and any lurkers who are giving this a shot. Hope you like. _**

_Everyday a lesson is learned, even, and especially, when it hurts. _

"Hey Ange."

Angela's mouth dropped, along with the pile of laundry she'd been carrying and she screamed loud enough to bring Hodgins barreling out of his office.

"What is it? What?" He asked, breathlessly. He rolled his eyes at the answer he received.

"It's Brennan!"

"And that was a good reason to give me a heart attack?" He mumbled, slowly gathering the clothes at her feet, dodging while she did her best at hopping with her enlarged stomach.

"Oh my God Sweetie where are you? Why haven't you called in like a week? What's going on?"

Brennan winced and pulled the phone away from her ear. "Um…here, because I was moving and…nothing."

Angela stopped bouncing and frowned. "Moving…where are you?"

Brennan sighed and stared up at the light she could see filtering out Angela's apartment window. After her experience at Booth's, she knew better than to just show up outside her door, so she called first.

"I'm outside."

Gasping, Angela grinned and went to the window, throwing open the blinds, she waved.

"What are you doing down there? Get your butt up here."

Brennan did.

Before she even made it to the door, it flew open and she was pulled into a crushing hug, made awkward by Angela's five-month pregnant belly.

"Sweetie! Why didn't you say anything? And why were you standing out there? Are you visiting? Back for good? Spill!?" Angela machine-gunned her questions as she led Brennan inside and pulled her down onto the couch. Brennan spotted Hodgins and gave a polite smile and wave.

"Hey Dr. B."

"Not now Jack." Angela shushed him with a look. "Bren?"

Brennan laughed slightly and pulled her arm out of Angela's vice grip.

"Well I would answer you if you'd let me."

Angela grinned. "I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to see you." She said happily, pulling Brennan into another hug.

Hodgins smiled and gently pried her arms off the good doctor.

"Let her breathe baby, I'm sure she'll explain."

Angela nodded and clasped her hands in her lap, still grinning.

Brennan pushed her hair out of her face again, she was really beginning to wish she had a hair tie, and bit her lip as she tried to remember all the questions Angela had asked.

"I…didn't call because I only decided to come back a few days ago, and I've been driving ever since."

"You drove back from California? Isn't that like a four day trip?"

Brennan shrugged. "I enjoyed the time to myself. Time to think, LA is very noisy."

Angela restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Her friend had spent the past four years in the City of Angels on the biggest ocean in the world and the most she had to say was 'it was noisy'.

"But Goodman called me last week and offered me a job, so I came back."

"But he's done that before." Hodgins interjected.

"Yeah, but this time it was the right one. Head of the whole Forensics Department."

Angela's eyebrows went up. "Wow. You're like…my boss' boss."

Brennan smiled. "Yeah, I mean it was a great offer so…I took it. All my stuff is being mailed to my apartment."

Angela frowned, settling back on the cushions to take the strain off her back.

"You still have your apartment?"

Again, Brennan shrugged, now playing with a frayed thread in the knees of her jeans.

"Yeah I…never got around to subletting it." She said quietly, which was half the truth. The other half being that she had never really intended to stay in California for so long.

After what had happened with Booth, she'd needed to put some distance between herself and DC, the city suddenly didn't seem big enough. Everything reminded her of him, and the way she'd hurt him. In fact, it had felt like the whole world wasn't big enough. So when the job offer had come from the Dean at CalTech, instead of throwing it out as she usually did, she decided to take him up on it.

It was only supposed to be a few months, but every time she started to think about going back, that tightness would return to her chest and she would close her eyes and see his face, and she knew she wasn't ready.

Brennan realized how long she'd been quiet and looked up to find both Hodgins and Angela studying her.

"How's Zach?" She asked suddenly, wishing to distract them.

They both smiled.

"Zack's doing great. Splitting his time between the Jeffersonian and…the rest of the world. You should be very proud." Angela said, Hodgins beside her and beaming at the mention of his friend.

Brennan nodded. "I am. He's a great anthropologist."

"What about you Dr. Brennan?" Hodgins moved his hand to the vase of Angela's neck and began massaging slightly. "Two best-selling novels in four years and I lost count of how many articles you've had published in the forensics journals. That's pretty amazing."

Smiling, Brennan shrugged one shoulder. "I've been…busy."

"Yeah, what else is new?" Angela asked, rolling her eyes.

Brennan 'hmmm'ed, lost in thought again as she studied the coasters on the coffee table.

"Bren, are you alright?"

"Hm? Yeah. I'm fine." She furrowed her brow. "Is, um, is Booth still the liaison to the Jeffersonian?"

Hodgins stopped moving and Angela stiffened.

"Yes." She said simply.

Brennan nodded, staring off into space again. "Okay."

"Um…Sweetie, you haven't seen Booth since you've been back, have you?"

"Yeah, I was just there." She said as nonchalantly as she could.

"Just there? As in, just before you came here?"

Brennan nodded and Angela glanced at the clock, noticing it was Grace's bedtime.

Crap.

Suddenly feeling fidgety, Brennan got up and began aimlessly wandering the room.

"I met Jenna and Grace." She mumbled, straightening a few pictures on the mantel.

Angela's eyes widened. "Jack, could you…"

Hodgins nodded and got up, disappearing down the hallway.

"Sweetie, I meant to tell you, I just…didn't know how." She began slowly.

Brennan waved away her words and stood, arms crossed, facing the wall.

"It's no big deal Ange. I just…He barely waited a year Ange. Grace…Gracie is going to be three. I've only been gone for four and a half years. He hardly wasted any time at all did he?" She said bitterly, blinking back the tears that sprung to her eyes.

"Sweetie…"

"I mean, you'd think he could come after me or wait for me to come back or something." She shook her head, still facing the wall. "Dating I could see…but marriage? A child?"

"Brennan."

"Did he even miss me at all?" She said, a bitter laugh in her voice as tears dripped, one by one, off her eyelashes. "He probably sulked for a few days, put on a good show and all, and then was right back out there satisfying his urges with every leggy blonde he could find, what an…"

"Brennan stop! You don't know what you're talking about." Angela nearly shouted.

Brennan turned around to face her, cheeks still red from her rant, and she found Angela standing up, anger and pain in her dark eyes.

"That's not how it was." She said, after a deep breath. "Not even close."

Brennan blinked and waited for her to continue.

Angela slowly sat back down and looked at the floor.

"I really think this is something you should talk about with him, work out between the two of you, but I can tell you this…he was devastated when you left."

"I find that hard to believe Angela." Brennan scoffed.

"Would you stop it?" Angela hissed. "It nearly killed him alright? When you left, his world shrunk to two things. Work and drinking."

In an instant Brennan's fire was gone and she sank down onto the sofa.

"Go on." She said softly.

Angela rubbed her eyes tiredly, she hated having to be the one to tell her friend these things, but she had to know. She had to find a way to make her understand that life didn't stop when she left and Booth was never the same.

"None of us knew how bad it was, he hid it for a long time. Seven or eight months. Then it started to affect his work and his time with Parker and we all started putting the pieces together. We tried talking to him, but nothing worked." Her voice broke and she looked up at Brennan for the first time, who was sitting stiff as a board, looking as if someone had kicked her in the stomach.

"I love you Sweetie, but…I was so angry at you back then. All he ever wanted to do was love you and you made it so dam hard for him. You pushed him until he couldn't push back. I could never understand why."

Brennan opened and closed her mouth. She had never really figured it out either. Looking away, she clasped her hands tighter in her lap.

"You know I wouldn't tell you any of this if I didn't think you needed to know Bren, I don't want to hurt you." She said quietly, tears staining her cheeks and soaking into her light purple blouse.

"It's okay Ange."

Nodding, Angela continued slowly. "So, one night, he refused to let anyone drive him home…and we got a call from the hospital at three am. He'd hit a tree on his way home." Brennan's eyes snapped up but Angela wasn't looking at her. "He still walks with a bit of a limp."

"Ange I didn't know…"She nearly whispered, hugging herself tighter against the wave of cold in her veins.

"I know Sweeite…Anyway, um, at the hospital he finally admitted he had a problem and started to get help. A few months later he was starting to do really well, but he hadn't dated at all, he wasn't the same man. So I…I introduced him to Jenna, Brennan. It was me."

Brennan's mouth opened, but she didn't get a chance to speak before Angela jumped in, suddenly speaking quickly, urgently.

"Sweetie it was so great. He was finally smiling again. He was starting to act like his old self. They'd been together for only four months when she got pregnant. He wanted to ask her to marry him, maybe even before that, I don't know. But when he found out she was having a baby he really wanted to…but he held off. He was so scared she would refuse and walk out of his life."

Brennan closed her eyes before Angela could see them fill with guilt.

"It took him until Grace was nearly five months old before he asked her."

"She said 'yes'." Brennan supplied, looking up hopefully as if she expected Angela to tell her she was wrong.

Angela nodded. Upon seeing Brennan's face fall, she reached out and took her hand.

"Brennan you have to understand. It was never the same as with you. They've never had the same spark that you two hand." She sighed. "But she does love him, and he loves her and that little girl more than life. And she gives him what he needs." Angela gave her hand a quick squeeze before letting go.

"She'll never be you, Sweetie…but she is enough for him."

**_So in the next chap I shall try to convince you not to hate Jenna. We'll see how sharp my persuasive powers are then. _**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I was SO excited with the reviews for the last chap I couldn't wait to post this next one. I was surprised that some of you already don't hate Jenna, which I appreciate, we think alike in that way, she saved him. Some of you hate Jenna, Booth and even Gracie...damn, that's a lot of hate, I shall try to curb some of that hostility in this chap, not that I blame you, it was the reaction I expected. Some of you just want to hurt Brennan for being selfish and stupid...yeah, I'm with you there too. Anyway, if I do my job right, we will all be on the same page after chapter 4. Oh and _McDork_, I don't think you'll be dissapointed **

_Everyday the past clashes with the present and we are left to toil in the rubble._

Booth quietly shut the door and locked it. Leaning his forehead against the wood, he was momentarily fascinated by the pounding of his heart in his throat. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty that his body still reacted that way to her after all these years.

"But Daddy's gotta tuck me in Momma!" A small voice whined from the back of the apartment.

With a small smile, he rubbed his face and pushed away from the front door, following the sound back to Grace's bedroom.

"Did I hear someone calling me?" He asked in his best all-is-right-in-the-world voice.

Grace giggled, her blonde hair all flopped over to one side as she bounced up and down on her white canopy bed and raised one tiny hand high in the air.

"Me! Me! I did!"

Booth smiled. "Alright Pumpkin snuggle down in there."

Grace nodded and sat back, wiggling and squirming until she was so far under her Bambi comforter that it practically covered her nose. She stopped moving and frowned up at her father.

"Pooh Bear."

Booth nodded and retrieved the stuffed bear from the floor where it had been abandoned that morning.

"Can't forget him." He winked and Grace nodded, pulling the bear tight to her chest and snuggling even further under the bedspread. With gentle hands, Booth proceeded to tuck the covers in all the way around her small body, cocooning her tight and secure in the warm blankets. He started to say something, but she was already fast asleep.

Booth knelt beside the bed and smoothed back her hair for a moment before glancing around the room. The pale pink walls and white dresser that held endless outfits of lace told the tale of the girlyest of girls. His daughter liked tea parties and ballet lessons, she never played in the dirt, she wasn't at all concerned with science or experiments, for which he was only partly thankful. He knew his life, his family, could have been very different with Brennan…but he usually did not entertain such thoughts. They didn't do anyone any good.

Leaning over, he tenderly kissed Grace's forehead, whispering, "Sweet dreams baby. I love you."

Slowly, he stood and clicked off the lamp. He paused in the doorway and waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkness so he could see her breathe. Then, just as he was closing the door, a soft whisper reached out through the darkness and tugged at his heartstrings.

"Daddy, love you more."

Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he gently shut the door and closed his eyes. Then and there he thanked God for the life he had, because frankly, it was a pretty damn good one.

He moved quietly down the hallway in search of Jenna and found her in the kitchen doing the dishes.

"Hon, I can load those into the dishwasher tomorrow, lest just go to bed."

"No, I'll wash them by hand tonight. It's fine. Stupid dishwasher never cleans them well enough anyway."

Booth frowned; it was obvious by the tremble in her voice that she was trying hard not to cry.

"Jen?"

He received no answer except the continued, incessant scrubbing on a baking pan.

"Jenna, honey, talk to me." He said gently, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

She tensed and suddenly slammed the dishes down into the soapy water. She turned on him, fierce and puffy eyed, looking ready for a fight.

"How could you do this to me Seeley? To Gracie? What were you thinking?" She was practically trembling with rage, her small white hands balled into tight fists that shook at her sides.

Taken aback, Booth hesitated before responding. "Do what?"

Jenna looked appalled and turned around, pursing her lips as she tore off her rubber gloves and threw them on the counter. "You were going to kiss her!"

"Whoa. No. I wasn't, no."

"Yes you were, I saw you Seeley. I opened the door and you were already kissing her with your eyes. I could see it." Tears stood in her eyes, but didn't fall as she took a challenging stance a few feet away from him.

"Jen, that's ridiculous. I wasn't going to kiss her."

"Don't…I'm not an idiot. You love her." She stated, suddenly calm as the anger in her blue eyes was replaced with an immense sadness and she turned her face upward to look at the ceiling.

"Jen. I don't love her." Booth said, shaking his head and stepping forward, trying to calm her down.

"Stop it." She whispered, dropping her eyes back to his. "Seeley, tell me you have more respect for me than that."

Booth didn't know what to say so she continued.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was the great _Bones_, was it not? The fearless, independent, self-assured Dr. Temperance Brennan. Famous author, renowned scientist and…and the woman I will never live up to." Her voice cracked and she covered her face with her hands. It had been easy to smile and nod when Seeley talked about her. Easy to ignore the memory of who'd come before her when they lay in bed at night and she had been thousands of miles away. But now that she was back…

Booth took a deep breath, he hated seeing his wife so upset. He knew he used to talk about Brennan a lot; he was only now coming to realize how that must have made her feel. He knew how crazy he got when she talked about her old boyfriends, and they had never been anything like he and Bones.

"Jenna…baby…" He murmured, stepping forward to take hold of her upper arms. "I don't love her anymore."

"But I've heard the way you talk about her Seeley. That kind of love doesn't just go away." She bit her lip and rested her forehead against his chest, pleading with him to make things right again.

Booth sighed and tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. He stared at her, trying to convey his seriousness and honesty with the silence between them.

"You're right, I care for her." He held fast as she started to struggle against him, "I worry that she's okay. Whether or not she's got heat in the winter, or a spare tire in her trunk. The same way I care about Angela or Cam or Melinda. As someone I feel responsible for and care for their well-being. Nothing more. But you…you are my wife. The mother of my daughter. I love you. I chose you…That's what you need to know, I'll tell you anything else you want to know. But that, is what you _need_ to know."

He stopped and no one spoke, both searching the other's face for sincerity and understanding.

Jenna drew in a calming breath and nodded, in seconds Booth had wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug.

This was his life, and it was pretty damn good.

**Okay, so did I succeed? Are my persuasive powers as strong as I hope them to be? The next chap is The BB confrontation chap, hope you all tune in!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay this is the big chap, where we find out what exactly happened four years ago and the events that followed to put our favorite pair out of pair-ness. I tried to keep it as IC as possible, but let me know what you think.**

_Everyday we must search for answers, it is the only way to forgive the past._

Brennan sipped her wine and sat cross-legged on her couch, gazing around at her apartment. Everything non-essential had been left behind. In fact, she'd only taken a few sets of clothes and toiletries. She'd never intended to stay after all, and when she did, she just bought things as she needed them.

Now it seemed strange to be back in this place, her old apartment. Everything exactly as it was four years ago. It almost seemed as if no time had passed at all, except the thick layer of dust that coated every flat surface and the fresh bleeding pain in her heart told her otherwise.

She'd just decided to try and go to bed, it had been a long trip, when she was startled by a knock at the door. She set her wine down on the coffee table and went to the door, hesitating a moment with her hand on the doorknob, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.

It could only be one person.  
---  
Booth stood leaning against the wall outside her door, a spot where he'd stood so many times, arms loaded down with take-out food and heart racing to see the doorknob turn.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his temples, the conversation he'd had with Jenna was still fresh in his mind. He was lucky to have a woman as understanding as her, he didn't know if he would have let him go if he had been her.

_-Earlier-_

_They sat next to each other on their bed, Jenna curled up to his side while they watched a sitcom on low volume so as not to wake Grace. _

_"I have to go talk to her." His voice seemed serious and out of place in the comfortable air of their bedroom. _

_Jenna immediately tensed. She wasn't surprised, she'd known Seeley long enough to know he didn't leave loose ends untied…but couldn't he tie them tomorrow?_

_"But…it's nearly midnight." She said, sitting up slowly._

_Booth nodded and looked at her. "She'll be awake."_

_He saw worry and hurt fall across her face and squeezed their entwined hands. _

_"I'm still liaison to the Jeffersonian and if we are going to be working together, there's some things we need to air out." He said patiently._

_Jenna frowned. "How do you know she's going to be working there?"_

_Booth half smiled, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles lightly. "She wouldn't have come back if she wasn't." _

_Jenna seemed unconvinced and he dipped his chin again to meet her gaze._

_"Jenna, I just need to talk to her. That's it. Talk." _

_Jenna searched his eyes for a moment and nodded. "I know…don't be out too long, alright?" Please, she added silently._

_Booth nodded, smiling slightly before kissing her. _

_"I love you."_

_"Me too."_

He was proud of her, for trusting him. It had been an eventful night and he knew it wasn't at all easy for her to watch him walk out the door knowing where he was going. But he would prove to her that her trust was not misplaced.

By doing what he came here to do.

He raised his hand, and he knocked.  
---  
Brennan took a deep breath and opened the door. She stared evenly at Booth, his large frame nearly filling the doorway. He still had that green jacket he loved so much and was wearing it over one of his Army t-shirts and a pair of jeans. His hands were jammed far into his pockets while he studied the floor, his voice reached her ears and she squeezed the doorknob to keep from reaching out for him.

"Didn't I always tell you to check before opening the door?" He said, a hint of forced teasing in his tired voice as he raised his eyes to hers.

"No need." She said, exhaling the breath she'd been holding, "I already knew it was you."

He raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"

"You and Angela are the only one's who know I'm back. She was tired and heading to bed when I left, so logic dictates that it would be you."

Booth pursed his lips, her cool, clinical scientist's voice was doing nothing to ease the temper he was struggling to control.

"Yeah. Logic. Why don't we talk a little bit about logic, hmm, Temperance? What logic were you following when you left four years ago…hell four hours ago when you made an impromptu appearance on my doorstep?" Even he was surprised by the venom in his voice and his words, but made no attempt to apologize for it. At this point he simply wasn't capable of it.

Pursing her lips, she stood aside, silently inviting him in.

"This isn't a conversation I intend to have in the hallway." She said, in answer to his surprised expression.

Booth hesitated only a moment, but complied with the impatient jerk of her head and went inside.

"So it is a conversation you intended to have then?" He asked in a tone that didn't sound as calm as he'd hoped.

Brennan wordlessly closed and locked the door. She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around herself and looked at the floor, then the walls and ceiling, avoiding his eyes at all cost. "Due to our past history and the fact that we will again be working together, it was only logical that we…"

"Could you stop with the damn logic for just two seconds Temperance?" He snapped. He couldn't deal with her scientific detachment And while on one hand he hated that he kept jumping down her throat despite his best efforts to remain calm …he didn't need the logic. The facts, the evidence. He knew what Dr. Brennan had to say, he needed to know what Temperance was thinking. Then _and_ now.

Brennan blinked back the tears that pushed forward as her carefully crafted shield began to crumble, as only Booth could make it.

"What do you want me to say Booth? That 'I'm sorry'? You know I am!" She all but screamed back. It didn't seem strange that after four years of pent up energy, questions, hostility and hurt, the two times they'd spoken since she got back they'd ended up yelling at each other.

But this time felt different, like this one conversation would serve to make or break the rest of their relationship. Professionally and personally.

Booth took a deep breath, rubbing his eyes and then shook his head. "No. 'I'm sorry' isn't what I need to hear. I know the words, Temperance. I need to know the reason. Why, how do you justify, logically or any other way, what you did four years ago. Because I've racked my brain trying to figure it out and I'm at a loss. I need you to tell me what happened."

Brennan wouldn't look at him, instead she'd made her way back over to the couch and was gulping down the last of her wine.

"I don't know." She said quietly with her back to him.

Booth wasn't sure whether to be shocked or angry. "You don't know? You left me standing at the alter on our wedding day and the best you can come up with is 'I don't know'?" He wanted to shout but found he no longer had the energy. He just wanted this to be over.

"There was no alter." She muttered.

"Don't. Don't mince words with me, you know what I mean."

Brennan turned. His voice had dropped and she found that he no longer looked angry, more pleading. His eyes were wide, head tilted the way he did. He really wanted to know why she'd done it. She began to understand how much it must have truly hurt him to wonder for all these years. She hated that she'd done that to him.

"I…I'm sorry." She whispered, single tears falling from her long lashes and dripping onto her warm face.

Booth blinked back the tears working to his own eyes and swallowed hard. "I know that Temperance. I don't need your apologies. You can't be sorry for something you don't know and you…don't…know. You don't know what it was like standing up there in front of everyone we knew, waiting for you to come around the corner. You don't know how they looked at me when you didn't." He stopped before his voice cracked and turned away, remembering all too vividly the looks of pity, sympathy, disappointment and judgment he'd been subjected to that day. "And I don't want your apologies for that. I could have lived with that. But…what got me was…you led me on, Temperance." He paused as she turned to look at him slowly. "You let me believe you were going to marry me. God, if you didn't want me, you shouldn't have taken the ring. You should have just said 'no'. It wouldn't have been the first time." He stopped, no longer able to trust his voice.

Brennan seized her opportunity, swiping repeatedly at her eyes in a futile attempt to keep them dry.

"But I wasn't leading you on Booth." She continued quickly before he had a chance to scoff. "I promise I wasn't. At least…I wasn't trying to. I really wanted to try with you. You wanted so badly to be married and I wanted to give you that. I thought I could. I just…when I stood there, looking at myself in the mirror…and my mother wasn't there to adjust my veil and my father wasn't there to walk me down the aisle…and the dress was white and huge and there were so many people. I – I was just so overwhelmed Booth. I panicked. I tried to make myself go out to you, because I knew if I could just hold your hand I could get through it…but I couldn't. I just…I couldn't Booth." She swallowed the sobs that were choking her and stared at him, pleading for understanding.

Booth took a good, long look at his tear-stained ex-fiancé, and he sighed. She was telling the truth, she really never meant to hurt him. And he could see it was killing her now as much as it had killed him then.

"I did come after you." He nearly whispered, and he heard her gasp quietly.

"When?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair and meandered toward the window, looking out into the dark sky. "About two months after you left. I, uh, I pulled some strings, found out where you were. I was on the next flight out to LA. When I got there you, ah, you were…" He looked down and frowned. "You were on the beach outside your condo. In a red bikini, a huge sunhat and your laptop. Before I could say anything, this guy, blue swim trunks, he comes jogging up to you." He heard her groan softly and she covered her face. She knew where this story was going.

"He went right up to you, bent over, and kissed you. You closed your laptop, reached up and kissed him back." Booth turned to face her. "You closed your laptop. I can't remember you ever doing that when I kissed you."

"I was trying to learn from my mistakes." She stated shakily.

"Yeah, well, you're a quick learner." He started toward the door.

"Booth, wait please. He didn't mean anything to me." She said desperately.

"Well he meant something to me Temperance!" He whispered urgently, whirling back toward her, all the hurt and anger she'd ever caused him wrapped up in a single sentence and the fire in his eyes.

Brennan had nothing to say and merely watched, blurry-eyed, as he took a deep breath and turned back to the window.

After a long still silence she cautiously approached him and after a moment of internal debate, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I really am so…so sorry Booth. More sorry than you will probably ever know."

Booth hung his head, his back still to her. The remorse in her voice coupled with the warmth of her touch and he could feel his anger slipping away, he didn't fight to hold onto it. "I know Temperance." He said slowly. After turning around and gauging the sincerity in her eyes, he gave a small smile and tugged her toward him. "I know."

In an instant she was wrapped in a warm, safe hug. The kind she'd been missing for so long.

Eyes closed, he moved his mouth to her ear and whispered. "I forgive you."

She sniffed, pulling back to look at him. "Really?"

"Of course." He nodded. "I don't want to be angry anymore. Besides, I have Jenna and Gracie now."

With that, her face fell slightly and he wasted no time in reaching out to tip her chin up so she could meet his eyes.

"Temperance, you are an exceptional woman. You're smart and you're beautiful and one day you are going to make one lucky man very, very happy."

She smiled and looked away, afraid to betray how much she hoped that was true.

"Just promise me two things." His face matched the somberness of his tone.

"Anything."

"One, when you do find that guy, let me run a background check on him." He grinned and she hit him lightly in the stomach.

"Yeah right."

"And two…next time, try not to be so afraid."

And all over again her eyes were watering, but she kept the tears at bay and merely nodded.

"I promise."

"Good." He took a second to look at her one last time, and smiled. Kissing her quickly on the cheek, he showed himself to the door.

Brennan watched him go, and the door had already shut before a thought occurred to her. She ran over and threw it open.

"Booth!"

He'd barely made it fifteen feet. He stopped and turned back to her. "Yeah?"

"I'll…I'll see you Monday?"

Booth smiled, that slow, easy smile that meant everything would be okay.

"Sure Bones, where else would I be?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

Biting her lip to prevent a goofy grin, she pulled herself back inside her apartment. Leaning against the closed door with her suppressed grin, she closed her eyes.

Maybe everything _would_ be okay. After all, he'd called her 'Bones'.

**Okay, as of right now this is the end, but I have been petitioned, well, quite frankly, threatened with bodily harm if I don't continue for at least one more chap where we find out what happens to Brennan so, let me know what you think and I'll try and update soon. **


End file.
